'Charge sheet in Noida killings in 90 days'

The Central Bureau of Investigation says it would file the first charge sheet in the Nithari serial killings in 90 days.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday said it would file the first charge sheet in the Nithari serial killings in 90 days while revealing that most of the murders of children by a psychopath duo had been committed "by one of the two accused" men.

CBI Director Vijay Shankar told reporters: "I am happy to report that we have almost unravelled the entire crime and its perpetrators... We will start filing the charge sheet in the case soon. The first charge sheet will be filed within three months from now, maybe even earlier."

Ruling out organ trade to be a reason behind the macabre killings, the CBI director said: "The CBI has found nothing whatsoever to indicate that there was an organ trade racket behind the killings."

He said the Uttar Pradesh police had registered 19 cases in the Nithari killings.

"It appears that most of the killings were committed by one of the two accused (either arrested businessman Moninder Singh Pandher or his manservant Surendra Koli)."

More than 20 skulls, mostly belonging to children, have been recovered from behind the Noida house of Pandher. All the victims were first sexually molested before being butchered.

Explaining the long deadline that the CBI has given itself to conclude investigations, Shankar pointed out that there was no witness to the serial killings and the entire case has to be based on forensic and scientific evidence.

"We have to have clinching forensic evidence to connect the accused to each of the 19 cases of murder and to ensure that the case is proved in the court of law," said Shankar.

The CBI director also declined to give the exact number of the people killed.

"After anatomical examination of the skeletal remains at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences they have been sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory at Hyderabad for DNS fingerprinting and they are being matched with those of the blood samples of the parents of the missing children. Only after that will it be prudent to fix the exact number of victims."

About reports that the accused used to indulge in cannibalism, Shankar said: "We have taken the Uttar Pradesh police' apprehensions on board and are investigating the angle."

The CBI had taken over the case on January 11 from the Uttar Pradesh police.